>Furthermore, here’s The Redskins, funked up leftwing punks, who wanted to ‘walk like The Clash, talk like The Supremes’ with their single Unionize. This was released on their own label CNT, which as everyone surely knows is the name of the anarcho syndicalist union who helped prop up The Popular Front government in Spain in the 1930s (despite being anarcho syndicalists, and therefore being against government and believing that the workers should rule themselves for their own benefit) and who armed the workers in the defence of Spanish cities against Franco’s military fascist coup.

>…which is here- Fisherman, lead track from Heart Of The Congos by The Congos. Utterly sublime vocal reggae from the golden tonsils of Cedric Myton and Roy ‘Ashanti’ Johnson. This is from a 1996 Blood And Fire re-issue which included a second disc including a 12″ mix of Congoman which I may get round to at some point. Looking at the tracklist it’s difficult to know where to begin with so many standouts- The Wrong Thing, Ark Of The Covenant, La La Bam Bam, Congoman. If you haven’t got this album, go get it and fill a hole in your life/record collection.

>Heart Of The Congos by The Congos, from the year two sevens clashed, is one of the great vocal reggae albums, with predictably great Lee Perry production. I can’t believe I’ve never posted anything from it. This is Fisherman Style, where The Congos are aided by U Roy, who chats all over Fisherman, showing some sympathy with the fish. This was done for a re-versioning project for Blood And Fire in 2006 where a variety of past and present reggae artists had a go at doing something new to the source track. Frankly, I’m not sure why anyone thinks they could improve on the original but this is pretty good. But this will probably send me in only one direction…

>It was roasting hot at 10.15 on Sunday night. I sat in the darkening garden with Toots and The Maytals’ Funky Kingston drifting through the kitchen window. It was one of those fleeting but near perfect moments. Now, a day later (at the time of typing) it’s clouded over and looks like rain. Thirty six hour summer. Sing it Toots.

>A top Mod doo wop floor filler from 1959, Poison Ivy by The Coasters. Written by Lieber and Stoller it’s been covered by numerous others including The Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies and The Lambrettas. And you get a picture of Uma Thurman as well.

>No rockabilly this week- I’ve drawn a blank in quiffed up inspiration. Instead I present a beautiful blues gospel song from 1968 from Shirley Ann Lee. Pared down, recorded in a shed production, muted guitar, some rudimentary percussion and a wonderful vocal. Recommended. While sitting on your porch sipping spirits and a mixer.

By the time this is posted I’ll be in Northampton, where The MPS Society are having a family conference. We spend the weekend seeing children who look like, walk like, talk like our own I.T., talking to families who have similar issues to us, moan about disability services and cuts, listen to consultants and professionals tell us the latest, and and then get drunk and cut some rug after the Saturday night dinner.